Value for Money savings programme forecast scrutinised
‘Progress with VFM Savings and Lessons for Cost Reduction Programmes: HM Treasury’ (HC 291) reports that the forecast made by government departments to save £35 billion between 2008-09 and 2010-11 is not viable.
The National Audit Office (NAO) concludes that HM Treasury's design addressed some weaknesses in earlier savings programmes, and departments have made some progress in their management of their programmes compared with previous spending periods.
Ministry of Defence estate should focus on value for money
The Ministry of Defence (the Department), one of the largest landowners in the UK, has strengthened its estate planning and achieved significant receipts from disposal of property, but the changes are not yet sufficient to drive value for money for the taxpayer rigorously.
While the defence estate primarily exists to support defence capabilities, the Department has not matched its focus on operational needs with enough attention to efficient use of its estate assets and to reducing costs.
Latest review of Public Service Agreements reports on gradual improvement
'Taking the Measure of Government Performance’ (HC 284) concludes that data systems to show taxpayers how their money is being spent is clearly focused on objectives and has shown gradual improvement.
Public Service Agreements (PSAs) were introduced in 1998 by the then Government as a means to prioritise aims using taxpayers’ money by measuring their efficiency.
Chancellor reveals new budget under coalition Government
‘June Budget 2010’ (HC 61) is the renewed fiscal document detailing urgent changes to axe the country’s deficit under the coalition government.
For the first time, the Government's monetary policy decisions have been based on independent forecasts for the economy and public finances. Urgent action will be taken to eliminate the bulk of the structural deficit through plans for additional consolidation of £40 billion per year.
Report examines independent Budget forecasts
Following the formation of the new coalition Government in May 2010, 'Examination of the Forecasts Prepared by the Interim Office for Budget Responsibility for the Emergency Budget 2010' (HC 142) reports on the Chancellor's launch of the interim Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to make independent assessments of the public finances and the economy.
To reflect the interim arrangements, the Comptroller and Auditor General was requested to undertake an examination to consider whether key economic and fiscal assumptions underpinning the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts were independently arrived at.
Payment to The Queen’s Civil List unchanged by Royal Trustees
In line with the Budget announced on 22 June 2010, the Chancellor revealed that payment to the Queen’s Civil List will remain at £7.9 million for the next calendar year.
In 'The Civil List Act 1972: Report of the Royal Trustees' (HC 140), the Royal Trustees recommend that expenditure in 2011 should be basically the same as in 2010, except that the one-off pension scheme deficit contribution in 2010 will not continue.
Exceptional individuals awarded in the Queen’s 2010 birthday honours
In celebration of Her Majesty’s birthday, the Queen announced this year’s list of people who have made a positive impact in their professions and across communities.
'The London Gazette Birthday Honours List Supplement - June 2010' recognises individuals for many types of contributions in varying fields of work, including:
HM Treasury outlines the Government’s upcoming spending review
Freedom, fairness and responsibility are the three main values leading the coalition Government’s plans to make fiscal cuts and reduce the country’s deficits to improve and encourage a stronger society.
New Government bills outlined in the Queen’s speech
‘Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to Both Houses of Parliament - Delivered on Tuesday, 25 May 2010’ (Cm. Unnumbered) sets the agenda for the Government’s 2010-11 session of Parliament as the Queen announces 22 bills for the new legislative programme.
Key policies set out in official Coalition programme
‘The Coalition: Our Programme for Government’ is the official document from the new Coalition Government that combines key policies agreed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.
Government reorganisation needs to be more cost effective recommends the NAO
Between May 2005 and June 2009, there were over 90 reorganisations to central government. 'Reorganising Central Government' (HC 432) finds that these cannot demonstrate value for money, given that most had vague objectives and that costs and benefits were not tracked.
The average annual cost of reorganisations is almost £200 million, around 85% of which is for the reorganisation of arms length bodies. Since 1980, 25 central government departments have been created, including 13 which no longer exist. By comparison, in the United States only two new departments have been created over the same period.
Report reviews use and abuse of official language by politicians and public servants
Politics and government are public activities, and so politicians and public servants should use language that people find clear, accurate and understandable. The Committee undertook this inquiry, 'Bad Language: The Use and Abuse of Official Language’ (HC 17) because it was concerned that too often official language distorts or confuses meaning. This is damaging because it can prevent public understanding of policies and their consequences, and can also deter people from getting access to public services and benefits.
Oversight of the Post Office Network Change Programme
examined
The report, 'Oversight of the Post Office Network Change Programme (HC 832)' finds that in 2007, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Post Office Ltd agreed a £1.7 billion strategy to make the network financially sustainable, including a £150 million annual subsidy. One element of this plan was the Network Change Programme whereby up to 2,500 post office branches were to be closed.
The Programme was expected initially to cost £176 million, mainly in compensation to sub-postmasters. Annual savings of £45 million were forecast but the Programme was expected to generate a £17 million loss in the 2006-07 to 2010-11 period of the strategic plan.
MPs salaries set to rise
‘Review
Body on Senior Salaries Report # 64: Review of Parliamentary Pay, Pensions and
Allowances 2007’ (Cm. 7270) examines the pay, pensions and allowances for
members of the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Shareholder Executive reviewed
The Shareholder Executive was established in 2003 to act as
an effective owner of businesses that are owned or part owned by government. It
is now an operational group within the Department of Trade and Industry with a
portfolio covering 27 businesses and a combined turnover of £21 billion.
This Report
'The
Shareholder Executive and Public Sector Businesses’ (HC 409) examines the
status and performance of the agency.
Governance: reviewing the Attorney General’s role
and Public Petitions
In its Green Paper
'The
Governance of Britain' (Cm. 7170), the Government set out proposals for
radical constitutional reform to rebalance power between the executive,
legislature and the people.
Among the proposals to improve the
engagement between Parliament and the people were:
- A commitment to
reforming the role of the Attorney General
- Changes to the system of
Public Petitions and Early Day Motions.
Government announces draft legislative
programme
This Command Paper
'The
Governance of Britain - The Government's Draft Legislative Programme' (Cm.
7175) is the first annual statement setting out a draft legislative
programme to be laid before the next Parliament.
Where previously the
legislative programme was not divulged in advance of the Queen's Speech at the
State Opening of Parliament, this new annual statement allows Parliament and
the public advance notice of the legislation that the Government plans to bring
forward.
Restructuring the Post Office
The Government believes that the current network of Post
Offices is unsustainable and has outlined plans for restructuring, which
involve closures, relocations and new delivery mechanisms.
This Report
‘Stamp
of Approval? Restructuring the Post Office Network’ (HC 276) examines
this proposed restructuring strategy.
Transforming service delivery across Government
The focus of the Varney Review is how to save the government, citizens and businesses time and money by looking at potentially integrating front-line service delivery.
As technology revolutionizes the way the service sector interacts with customers, a gap is develops between the public and private service sectors.
Strong and Prosperous Communities: the White Paper
on Local Government
The Paper examines ways of creating and sustaining strong
local communities, emphasising the key role of local government in strategic
leadership and new powers for local councils.
The Paper discusses
effective, accountable and responsive local government seeking to position
local government as a strategic leader in transforming local services and
creating community cohesion.
15m mail items lost, stolen or damaged a year
In March 2006, Royal Mail accepted a new quality of service and price control regime proposed by Postcomm, the regulator of mail services in the UK. The new arrangements run from April 2006 to March 2010.
In addition to allowing Royal Mail to raise the price of first- and second-class stamps, Royal Mail also has new quality of service targets and associated financial incentives aimed at improving mail services.
Honours for Michael Parkinson and Kylie
Minogue
‘The
London Gazette New Year Honours List Supplement (December 2007)’ is the
first Honours List recommended by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Its aim is to
reflect and pay tribute to outstanding achievement and service across the
entire community.
Communities and Local Government 2007 performance
reviewed
‘Department
Annual Report 2007’ (HC 170) reports on the performance of the Department
for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The single theme that underlies
the 2007 report is delivery.
£1.8bn spent on public sector consulting
In 2005-06, central government spent £1.8 billion on consulting, while an estimated £2.8 billion public sector funding in total was spent on consultants. This Report examines the use of consultants in central government during 2005-06.
Political party financing in UK is “unstable”
Political parties are key institutions in any system of representative democracy.
In this Report, the Constitutional Affairs Committee finds that the present system of party financing in the UK is “unstable”.
Central government could improve cash management
This National Audit Office (NAO) report, 'Government Cash Management (HC 546)', finds that central government could improve its day to day cash management and reduce the amount of interest it pays on debt if its departments and their sponsored bodies held less money in commercial bank accounts and improved the accuracy of their cash flow forecasting.
Government information websites to close
The Transformational Government strategy was laid out in
the 2005 publication
"Transformational
government: enabled by technology" (Cm. 6683), outlining a six year
improvement journey for public services.
This is the first
Transformational Government Annual Report, covering progress across the three
main themes of the strategy: customer-centric services, shared services and
professionalism.